Two spooky, family-friendly concerts

Holy Halloween, Batman. They're showing the 1925 original feature, "Phantom of the Opera," in (gulp!) a church in Allentown, with live organ accompaniment! There's even a BOO-roque concert in Bethlehem, featuring a fully staged performance of the Witches' Scene (gasp!) from "Dido and Aeneas" by Henry Purcell!

On Oct. 28, the Moravian College baroque music groups Monteverdi Ensemble and Scherzi Musicali (The Baroque Ensemble) will present "A Boo-roque Halloween," an eclectic, family-friendly program of early music at Peter Hall, featuring the frighteningly funny witches from Purcell's classic music drama.

"Each fall, my two early music groups, the Monteverdi Ensemble (vocal) and the Baroque Ensemble (instrumental), combine to do a program. When we noticed that the program this year was on Oct. 28, I thought we could do something with a Halloween theme," says Larry Lipkis, director of both groups.

The first part of the program will feature madrigals by the well-known Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi and the perhaps less well-known Jewish Italian composer Salamone Rossi, both who lived around the same time.

The scene then shifts to the Iberian peninsula, with the Galacian folk song "Baila Nena," the Sephardic song "A La Una" and "Folias Gallegas" by Spanish guitarist and composer Santiago de Murcia.

But in the second half of the program, there's trouble afoot! In Act II, Scene I of "Dido and Aeneas," a sorceress and her witches are dedicated to bringing down Dido and destroying Carthage — not so much because they hate her wealth and success, but mainly because they just like to cause trouble.

"These are not like the grim and scary witches in Macbeth — these are more comic, funny witches," Lipkis says.

"This year, I had some very talented singers who just happened to also like to dance and act, which is not always the case. I thought we'd take advantage of their talent, so we're staging that famous Witch Scene in full costume and with smoking cauldrons. It should be lots of fun."

There's even dancing and movement in the first half of the concert, which should help keep younger kids primed for the chills to come.

The length of the program — under an hour — also is kid-friendly. A Halloween-themed reception follows the concert.

On Oct. 30, organist Michael Britt will accompany a large-screen projection of the original "Phantom of the Opera," starring Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin, at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Allentown.

The program begins with some sing-along "Pumpkin Carolz," to get everyone in the mood. Such familiar classics as "Deck the Patch," "The Twelve Days of Halloween" and "Great Pumpkin is Coming to Town" should really scare up the holiday spirit.

"We have been doing this about every two years as a part of our Arts at St. John's series since the early 1990s," says Stephen Williams, church organist and director of music. "We have shown other movies such as 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' and 'King of Kings,' but none have been as popular as the 1925 original feature version of 'The Phantom of the Opera.' "

Williams says the church has had different organists accompany the film, including him, each adding their own personalities, some serious, some comical. "But Michael Britt is returning for his second go-round since his rendition and take on how the orchestration should complement the story was absolutely extraordinary and remarkably memorable the last time he was here, making the film all the more a masterpiece," he says.

Britt, a Baltimore native, has a graduate degree in organ performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. In addition to being a frequent recitalist of classical organ literature, Britt is a performer of theater organ music, and is in demand throughout the country as a silent-film accompanist.

The concert, with the funny carols and spooky organ music, is as kid-friendly as it gets. The audience is encouraged to come dressed in its finest Halloween attire.